The Understanding

I came across myself the other day,
I was surprised we did not have much to say.
There was a hesitancy among all the cheery smiles,
and it was not clear to me just where I had seen myself before.

Such a long journey across so many miles, not sure anymore
how often I lost sight of the shore where I first left the child I was behind.
I have a different name now, a different tongue and history, perhaps
the life I knew before was just a dream, an illusion I took off like an overcoat.

So many roles I had to learn, it was a steep climb to reach the safety of a new home.
So many words swallowed and forgotten, so many hopes erased and redrawn,
invisible for so long, I finally found a voice within a Berber song,
within its melody I discovered the words that revealed to me the essence of my journey's goals. 

Like a shadow blends with its owner outside of the strong light,
my heart and mind no longer feel out of step with the dreams I paint at night.
The fata morgana that eluded me my whole life recedes when I touch the Algerian shore,
as I bring home the understanding left there for me to find within the treasure that is the Berber soul. 


Trudi Ralston.